Trick mode operations are traditionally thought to include forward and reverse playback modes for video, among other operations. In general, fast forward and fast reverse operations for video playback control as well as their slow motion counterparts are implemented on the basis of time. That is, whether in a forward direction or a reverse direction, a fast playback is performed at some integer multiple of the normal playing speed, where the magnitude of the exemplary integer multiplier is greater than one (1). It should be understood that slow motion replay is performed by using a multiplier with a magnitude that is less than one and greater than zero. For completeness, the sign of the multiplier is utilized to determine the direction of the operation, where a positive sign will usually designate a forward operation while a negative sign will usually designate a reverse operation.
Fast forward or fast reverse operations will cause the video content from a longer time interval to be compressed and replayed in a much shorter time interval proportionally related to the speed multiplier for the replay operation. For example, a Fast Forward (FF) 2× will cause the video content to be played in a forward direction at twice the normal playing speed so that two seconds of video content is played in every one second interval. Higher speeds, such as 4×, 8×, and 16×, will cause a proportionally greater amount of video content to be played in every one second interval.
Such trick mode operations are based solely on time to the apparent exclusion of any other basis or criterion not related to time. This means that the timeline or time sequence of the video content is evenly compressed or evenly expanded for standard trick mode play operations such as fast forward/reverse replay and slow forward/reverse replay, respectively. While standard trick mode play may be suitable for many viewers, it has been recognized that such a time based approach can actually cause an uneven trick mode playback rate for certain aspects of the video content that may appeal to other viewers. For example, video scenes will be unevenly replayed in time using the standard time-based trick mode playback because longer scenes will occupy a proportionally longer amount of the playback time over shorter scenes, all directly proportional to the particular scene time duration or length. The video content information in short scene may be nearly impossible to discern during a fast reverse or fast forward operation in contrast to a significantly longer duration scene, especially when the speed is a significantly high multiple of the normal speed such as 4× and 8×, for example. Thus, trick mode play operations based solely on time fall short in meeting all the needs for viewers of video content.